About this artwork

In this painting MacBryde presents the unusual combination of a melon (round and feminine in shape) with the aggressively spiked patterns of a backgammon board. This peculiar conjunction of opposites the round and the angular owes something to Surrealism, while the style is derived from Cubism. However, there are some similarities between the two objects: both are painted in the same basic colours and the open backgammon board echoes the open melon. Two enigmatic shadows cast over the table add a disturbing note to the composition.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Robert MacBryde (1913 - 1966) Scottish
  • title:
    Still Life
  • date created:
    About 1947
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    41.50 x 87.00 cm; Framed: 57.50 x 102.60 x 10.50 cm / 12.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequeathed by Miss Elizabeth Watt 1989
  • accession number:
    GMA 3497
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Robert MacBryde

Robert MacBryde